THE Welsh Cup dream may be over but Porthmadog are determined not to let their penalties blow at Carmarthen Town onSaturday derail the rest of their season.

With a visit to The New Saints next up on Saturday, they can’t afford to.

They may have exited the cup following that shoot-out defeat but all attention is now being focussed on qualification for the FAW Premier Cup and joint-manager Viv Williams is confident his men can achieve it.

He is proud of his players for their exploits in the Welsh Cup this term and felt fate played its part in Saturday’s defeat, after the two teams had ended normal and extra-time level at 1-1.

Williams now hopes Port can put on similar shows to those the Traeth faithful have witnessed in knockout competition between now and end of the campaign.

He said: “We have done really well to get so far in the Welsh Cup. We haven’t had it easy and have had to play Prestatyn, Bangor, TNS and Carmarthen along the way.

“It just wasn’t to be. I have got to give the lads full credit for getting so far but we are gutted to go out.”

Williams believes Port have it in them to secure a place in next season’s lucrative FAW Premier Cup and, with injured players slowly returning, he is looking for 100% commitment.

He said: “We have got 10 games left and I think we need to win half of them minimum.

“That should secure us a place in the Premier Cup.

“We’ll be going out to win every game but we know there’s tough matches to come. We’ve shown we’re more than capable, though, against the best.”

Port will have put that belief into practice this weekend and they meet the best in the form of the league champions TNS.

The full-timers need points to shrug off second-placed Rhyl in the title race and Williams is under no illusions about the challenge to come.

He said: “It’s the most difficult trip of the season.

“They’re such a good team but we’ve done superbly against them and that shows that we have progressed this season.

“We’ve got to go there with the same attitude. There can be no hangover from the cup.”